Sunkern Line/GSC
Sunkern is only found in the National Park and on Route 24, and only during the day, in all three games. Sun Stones are only available as a first prize for winners of the Bug-Catching Contest. Sunkern is rare and only found in one location, and this rarity does not reflect its strength at all: it is, quite possibly, one of the most unfortunate Pokémon in all of Johto, lagging behind even some single stage evolutionary lines with at least one gimmick to account for. Sunflora's greatest misfortune is its deadly combination of bad typing and shallow movepool: as Sunkern, it would not learn anything but Giga Drain in the late 40s, which is much too late to wait on; even a Sunflora evolved early and with Mega Drain, however, can accomplish little more than that, as it manages a few mildly positive mid-game matchups and quickly starts falling behind as the endgame fights roll out. For most of the game, Sunflora's best weapon is non-STAB Return, a move with poor offensive typing that runs off its lesser attacking stat. These factors combined make Sunflora largely unhelpful; even taking a Sunflora on board "just for the challenge" is a likely stretch, as a personal preference for the Pokémon would be the only sensible reason to train one. Important Matchups Johto * Gym #3 - Whitney (Goldenrod City, Normal-type): Sunflora easily beats Clefairy, though it may want to lengthen the fight against it instead, to set up Growth and then sweep Whitney's ace. At +5 Growths, Mega Drain is a guaranteed 2HKO against Miltank, which bypasses its Milk Drink and greatly outdamages Stomp, an average 4HKO. Clefairy can at worst 3HKO with strong super effective moves like Fire Blast, induced by Metronome, though accuracy-lowering moves make it more difficult for Sunflora to hit; the setup has some risks, but even in the worst case scenario, with healing support Sunflora should win. * Rival (Burned Tower): Sunflora should not fight Haunter; its resisted Mega Drain is weak against it, and its slowness makes it easy prey to the Mean Look and Curse combo. Zubat, instead, can be 2-3HKOed with Return, since it knows no STAB moves. The fight against Magnemite is possible, but not recommended; Return and Mega Drain are both resisted, and Magnemite can make a significant dent in Sunflora's health with SonicBoom. Mega Drain scores an easy 3HKO against Croconaw; Quilava beats Sunflora, though not by a large margin, since its strongest move is Ember. Bayleef may be the most tedious to beat: though Return is normally a 4HKO, its Reflect can double up the amount of turns needed to kill, and Growl only contributes to worsening Sunflora's situation, as does PoisonPowder. * Gym #4 - Morty (Ecruteak City, Ghost-type): Sunflora is at a considerable disadvantage against all of Morty's Pokémon, and should not fight any of them. * Eusine (Cianwood City, Crystal only): Sunflora's Return warrants a 3HKO against Drowzee, but not much more. Haunter's Mean Look and Curse combination would get the best of Sunflora due to the low damage output of Mega Drain, while Electrode is at best 4HKOed by Return (assuming no level advantage), and its Screech can make Rollout very dangerous. * Gym #5 - Chuck (Cianwood City, Fighting-type): Sunflora 3HKOs Primeape easily with Return. Poliwrath is highly unlikely to 2HKO with DynamicPunch, though the move comes close to 50% maximum damage; Sunflora should face it with Mega Drain, which allows it to recover just enough health to keep outside the 2HKO range. Bitter Berries are a recommended held item, as they help Sunflora snap out of DynamicPunch-induced confusion. * Gym #6 - Jasmine (Olivine City, Steel-type): Sunflora is at a serious disadvantage against all of Jasmine's team, and would hardly prevail over any of her Pokémon. Do not use Sunflora here. * Rocket Executive battle #1 (Team Rocket HQ): Zubat is 2HKOed by Return, though Koffing can take up to two hits, and Selfdestruct can KO after two Sludges; Sunflora will typically be fast enough to avoid this, but poisoning or critical hits may get in the way. Raticate is 3HKOed. * Rocket Executive battle #2 (Team Rocket HQ): Arbok is easily 3HKOed by Return. Sunflora can manage even Gloom or Murkrow if completely healthy, since their Acid and Peck attacks take several turns to KO, whereas Return is a 2-3HKO against both of them. * Gym #7 - Pryce (Mahogany Town, Ice-type): Sunflora can 2HKO Seel with Petal Dance. The move may keep executing even against Dewgong, dealing the third blow, but this is not an issue: two of Seel's Aurora Beams and one of Dewgong's still cannot KO Sunflora. A fully healthy Sunflora can beat Dewgong, also 2HKOed by Petal Dance, since Aurora Beam is only a 3HKO without critical hits. Piloswine and Sunflora both 2HKO each other with Blizzard and Petal Dance respectively; Sunflora is unlikely to outspeed, however, and the move locks it into battle, so fighting against Piloswine is not recommended. * Rocket Executive battle #3 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Sunflora is disadvantaged even against the Koffing's Sludge, and their explosive moves are on another level entirely, as is Weezing. Do not use Sunflora in this battle. * Rival (Goldenrod Underground): Sunflora loses against Golbat's Wing Attack and Haunter's combination of Mean Look and Curse, though it can 3HKO Magnemite with Petal Dance and Sneasel with Return. Feraligatr is 2HKOed by Petal Dance, as well, and Meganium can be gradually weakened with Return, which is stronger than its Body Slam. Quilava cannot be beaten. * Rocket Executive battle #4 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Sunflora's Return can 3HKO Arbok and Murkrow, which only have Poison Sting and Peck for STAB, but Vileplume's Acid outdamages it. * Rocket Executive battle #5 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Return is a 2-3HKO against Houndour, whose Ember is weak enough to not deal much damage. It cannot, however, match up to Koffing's Sludge or Houndoom's Ember. * Suicune (Bell Tower, Crystal only): Sunflora's best shot at beating Suicune is holding a Bitter Berry and using Petal Dance. The move 3HKOs, and the held item can snap Sunflora out of confusion if execution stops after the second turn. This also prevents Leer and Gust from becoming a deadly combination, as there would not be enough turns for Suicune to set up. * Gym #8 - Clair (Blackthorn City, Dragon-type): Sunflora can beat two of the three Dragonair with Return, an average 3-4HKO, but not the one with Ice Beam, which also 3-4HKOs Sunflora. There is no way of telling which is which, but Sunflora can more than take a hit, so it can switch out in case the wrong Dragonair comes about. Sunflora is also outdamaged by Kingdra, even just with DragonBreath, but even more so with Hyper Beam. * Rival (Victory Road): Although Sunflora may win the matchup against Sneasel, since Petal Dance is a 2-3HKO, a combination of Screech and Fury Cutter can be dangerous to take on top of the possible self-induced confusion. Sunflora has a favourable matchup against Kadabra, which gets 2HKOed by Return, and Feraligatr, 2HKOed by Petal Dance; it is unlikely to win against Meganium, which can hit harder than Sunflora's Return with Body Slam and shield itself with Reflect. Any other Pokémon on the rival's team easily overwhelms Sunflora. * Elite Four Will (Indigo Plateau, Psychic-type): Return can 3HKO both of the Xatu, neither of which knows Flying moves, though their Confuse Ray may make this task difficult for Sunflora. Jynx must be avoided, its Ice Punch is too strong. Exeggutor is 2-3HKOed by Sludge Bomb. Slowbro can be 2HKOed with Petal Dance even if it uses Amnesia after one hit, but if it is not the last Pokémon on Will's team, Sunflora may be open to attacks on the third turn if it is not switched out and Petal Dance continues its execution. * Elite Four Koga (Indigo Plateau, Poison-type): Ariados has no STAB moves, so Sunflora can theoretically 3HKO it with Return, though this is not advised; its combination of Spider Web and Baton Pass may trap the sunflower in front of enemies that are too difficult to face. It can manage against Venomoth, once again by 3HKOing with Return, but Forretress OHKOs it from full health with Explosion, and both Muk and Crobat can make short work of it with Sludge Bomb and Wing Attack, respectively. * Elite Four Bruno (Indigo Plateau, Fighting-type): Hitmontop may either be 3HKOed by Petal Dance or 3-4HKOed by Return; it is advised to use Return, since Petal Dance may induce confusion and Hitmontop is largely harmless. Sunflora's Petal Dance is better kept for Onix, which will be OHKOed by it. Hitmonchan is 3HKOed by Return, as well; even its Ice Punch does little damage to Sunflora, due to the low Special Attack. Sunflora may gamble the 3HKO against Hitmonlee as well, though this is more difficult: its Swagger may either speed up the process or damage Sunflora, and Hi Jump Kick alone can 3HKO. Machamp is too strong for Sunflora to beat. * Elite Four Karen (Indigo Plateau, Dark-type): Sunflora may beat Umbreon, but will likely require an X Accuracy to do so, as its Sand-Attack decreases accuracy and Sunflora's moves are fairly weak against it. Return can 3-4HKO Vileplume; it knows Acid, but the move is weaker than Sunflora's Return, unless at least one Defense drop is scored. Murkrow is also easily 2-3HKOed, once again by Return, since it does not know any Flying moves. Fighting Gengar with Sunflora is not worth it; Sunflora's best move is resisted, and Gengar's Destiny Bond is insidious for any Pokémon slower than it. Houndoom would also easily beat Sunflora with Flamethrower. * Champion Lance (Indigo Plateau, Flying-type): Gyarados cannot be weakened fast enough for Sunflora to both dodge enough Hyper Beams and avoid taking massive damage from Flail, and all of Lance's other Pokémon outpower Sunflora with even greater ease. Avoid. Kanto From this point onwards, you can fight the gyms in any order, though you will need to retrieve the Machine Parts from the Cerulean City gym before you have access to the earlier portion of Kanto. Feel free to anticipate or postpone any battles as needed. * Gym #9 - Brock (Pewter City, Rock-type): Everything gets OHKOed by Giga Drain or Petal Dance. If Petal Dance is used, it is recommended to have Sunflora hold a Bitter Berry to snap out of confusion. * Rival (Mt. Moon, optional): Sunflora can 2-3HKO Sneasel with Return before Fury Cutter becomes a problem, but it is now much less likely to win against Alakazam, which is faster and can put up Reflect to greatly lessen the damage intake. It can win easily against Meganium with Sludge Bomb, which 2-3HKOs, but not with Return, which is almost paralleled by Meganium's Body Slam. Feraligatr is 2HKOed by Petal Dance, though if it is not the rival's last Pokémon, Sunflora may get locked into battle an additional turn. Sunflora should not fight Golbat, Magneton, Gengar or Typhlosion, all of which have a decisive advantage. * Gym #10 - Misty (Cerulean City, Water-type): Golduck and Starmie are 2HKOed by Giga Drain or Petal Dance, while Quagsire is OHKOed. Giga Drain is recommended against Starmie, as it helps Sunflora recover enough HP to take the second Ice Beam on the following turn. Lapras can 2HKO with Blizzard, and should preferably be fought by another Pokémon; Sunflora would win only if the move missed once. * Gym #11 - Lt. Surge (Vermilion City, Electric-type): Sunflora can 3HKO Raichu and Electabuzz with Return or Petal Dance; Magneton takes longer to beat, but its moves are weak against Sunflora, so it can be defeated with the help of Giga Drain recovery. It is poorly advised to have Sunflora fight against the Electrode, since they both have Explosion and the move can chip away over three quarters of Sunflora's health, OHKOing on the spot if Screech is also used; Sunflora may beat the Electrode only with prior Curse setups against Raichu, since at +4 in both Attack and Defense it can OHKO the Electrode with Return, and take only about 25% in damage from their Explosion. * Gym #12 - Erika (Celadon City, Grass-type): Sunflora's Sludge Bomb can 2-3HKO Tangela and Bellossom, and 2HKO Jumpluff. Sunflora should not fight Victreebel, however, which can outpower even Return with Acid unless Curse has been used against Tangela before. Sunflora needs a full +6 to OHKO Victreebel, but even a +2 is sufficient, which makes Return hit the 2HKO range and Acid is no longer an issue. * Gym #13 - Janine (Fuchsia City, Poison-type): Crobat and the two Weezing can easily outmatch Sunflora, the former with a combination of Confuse Ray and Screech, and the latter with Sludge Bomb and Explosion. Sunflora can beat only Ariados and Venomoth, respectively 2HKOed and 3HKOed by Return, since neither of them knows STAB moves. If Ariados or Venomoth come into battle before one or both Weezing do, Sunflora can profit of them to set up Curses and increase its bulk, though if this happens against Venomoth, it will need to be healed from the enemy Toxic in the process. The optimal setup is +4, which allows a likely Return OHKO against the Weezing; +2 is the minimum required to win. * Gym #14 - Sabrina (Saffron City, Psychic-type): Sunflora is disadvantaged against all of Sabrina's Pokémon; Espeon and Alakazam both outspeed and outdamage it, and Mr. Mime can put up both Reflect and Barrier to ridicule Return. Sunflora may only win with consistent Curse setups against Espeon, from +2 onwards, and this would be possible only with repeated healing, as its Psychic is a 3HKO. There is also no guarantee Sunflora would win, as a Special Defense drop would make the enemy Psychic hit the 2HKO range. Overall, it is best to just not use Sunflora in this battle. * Gym #15 - Blaine (Seafoam Islands, Fire-type): No. Everything kills Sunflora. * Gym #16 - Blue (Viridian City): Sunflora has no business fighting Pidgeot, Alakazam or Arcanine, all of which can outpower it easily; Gyarados should also be avoided, as Sunflora's moves cannot compensate the strength of its Hyper Beam, even counting the recharge turn. It can OHKO Rhydon with Giga Drain or Petal Dance, though Set mode players should not use the latter, as it leaves Sunflora open to attacks with the following switch-in. Exeggutor is 3HKOed by Sludge Bomb, but will beat Sunflora with Egg Bomb if it does not know the move. * Rival (Indigo Plateau, optional): Return still 3HKOs Sneasel, which grants Sunflora a favourable matchup; Sunflora can also win against Meganium, but only with Sludge Bomb, while Feraligatr is easily 2HKOed by Petal Dance. None of the other Pokémon should be approached, as they all both outdamage and outspeed Sunflora. * Red (Mt. Silver): Pikachu is 2-3HKOed by Giga Drain or Return, though the latter will lose power if Charm is used. Defeating Venusaur takes several turns with Return, but it is possible, since it only knows Grass moves and Sunny Day. Blastoise is dangerous: its Blizzard and Sunflora's Giga Drain or Petal Dance are both 2-3HKOs; Giga Drain is safer to use, since it allows Sunflora to regain health and does not lock it into battle, but healing or a switch may still be required. Espeon, Snorlax and Charizard should not be fought; they easily have the upper hand over Sunflora. Moves Sunkern's initial moves are Absorb, Growth and Mega Drain. Both Sunkern and Sunflora learn new moves at the same levels, though their learnsets differ: at level 19, they both get Sunny Day, while at level 31 Sunkern learns Synthesis while Sunflora learns the much more useful Petal Dance, though the move is still risky for Set mode players, who cannot switch the sunflower out of a difficult matchup just as freely. At level 46, Sunkern gets Giga Drain and Sunflora learns SolarBeam. Neither Pokémon learns further moves by level. Giga Drain is a good move for Sunflora to have, but given how late Sunkern learns it, it is not convenient to wait so long, especially since the move can be obtained as a TM not long into the postgame. Sunflora is best evolved early, even as early as right after capture, since Mega Drain is a good enough move until Petal Dance comes around. In addition, compared to Sunkern, Sunflora has far superior stats and is much less likely to fall. TM options are fairly limited for Sunflora. The aforementioned Giga Drain is obtainable in Kanto, but that is the only noteworthy Grass move the line gets, short of SolarBeam which it can learn normally. Its physical options are just Return and Sludge Bomb, though they work well enough for a good segment of the game, despite Sunflora's average Attack; they can be further bettered with Curse, as Sunflora suffers nothing from cutting its own Speed. Recommended moveset: Curse / Petal Dance, Giga Drain, Return, Sludge Bomb Recommended Teammates * Rock-types: Though Rock-types are not common, they do the best possible job at aiding Sunflora. Rock covers for four weaknesses out of five, some both offensively and defensively, and provides the extra Defense that Sunflora lacks. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Golem, Sudowoodo, Rhydon * Water-types: Given the several occasions in which Fire- and Ice-types show in the mid-to-late game, and the usefulness of the type in general, a Water-type ally is a good one to have. It can take the hits Sunflora cannot, and Sunflora can function as a switch-in for both of the Water-type's weaknesses. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Feraligatr, Politoed, Slowbro, Slowking, Golduck, Tentacruel, Starmie (Crystal only), Lanturn, Dewgong, Vaporeon (Crystal only), Kingdra * Physical tanks: Sunflora's Defense is far from great. Its good HP can make it somewhat withstand physical hits, but for strong physical hitters, a proper physical tank is needed in response; Sunflora cannot be the one for the job, especially with its many weaknesses. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Feraligatr, Quagsire, Poliwrath, Slowbro, Weezing * Fast hitters: Since Sunflora is very slow, it will almost never hit first. For battles in which speed is mission-critical, it is essential to have a good, fast hitter on the same team as Sunflora. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Gengar, Alakazam, Tauros, Electabuzz, Starmie (Crystal only), Jolteon (Crystal only), Espeon, Rapidash Other Sunkern's stats Sunflora's stats * At what point in the game should I be evolved? Given that Sunkern only learns one interesting move, Giga Drain, which comes far too late, it should be evolved as soon as it is caught. Sunflora is useful in the mid-game for the most part, and waiting on the evolution would make it a consistent dead weight throughout the adventure. * How good is the Sunkern line in a Nuzlocke? Not good. Johto as a whole is at best unkind to pure Grass-types, and Sunflora is possibly more disadvantaged than others. Its stats would make it a decent special tank, but its STAB options are limited to just Mega Drain for a long time, and neither Giga Drain nor Petal Dance are much of an upgrade in this generation. Sunflora has to face most of the game with Return as its best weapon, which runs off a paltry base Attack and does it little in the way of favours. * Weaknesses: Flying, Poison, Bug, Fire, Ice * Resistances: Ground, Water, Grass, Electric * Immunities: None * Neutralities: Normal, Fighting, Rock, Ghost, Steel, Psychic, Dragon, Dark Category:Gold/Silver/Crystal Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses